Tobacco-stemming machine.



W. G. WOODCOCK, JR. TOBACCO STEMMING MACHINE. APPLICATION FILED SEPT.19, 1913.

1,, 108 641 0 Patented July 14:, 1914. I v 3 SHEETS SHEF-T 1.

q/Vi/bvwooeo k k v d W. G. WOODCOCK, JR. OBACCO STEMMING MACHINE.

APPLIOATION FILED SEPT. 19, 1913.

Patented July 14, 1914.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 2;

W. G. WOODCOCK, JR. TOBACCO STEMMING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 19, 1913.

Patented July 14, 1914.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

nln I-III Elli-lull:

barren srarns Parana caries- WILLIAM GEORGE WOODCOCK, JR., OF NEWAFK, NEW JERSEY, ASSIG-NOR TO CANA- DIAN TOBACCO UTILITIES LIMITED, TORONTO, CANADA, A'CORPORATION OF ONTARIO.

TOBAGGO-STEMMING MACHINE.

Application filed September 19, 1913.

' of America, and residingat Newark, in the portion of the leaf from the stem and will 1 county of Essex and State of New Jersey, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Tobacco-Stemming Machines,

; stemming rolls.

of which the following is a specification.

The objects of my invention are to pro- I vide an improved machine for stemming leaf per bar chains.

tobacco that will strip the lamina or blade deliver such stripped leaves entirely free from undesired portions of the stems, whlch latter will be delivered at a separate point.

Heretofore great difficulty has been 8X' perienced in stemming machines on account of the admixture with the stripped leaves of f a certain percentage of unstripped and broken leaves and stems which necessitated the removal by hand of suchystems and broken leaves, and a chief'object of my invention is to provide a machine which will positively deliver stripped or stemmed leaves free from any admixture therewith of. an torn or broken leaves or stems.

Another object has been to provide a machine of simple and few parts, easily operated by unskilled labor, andwhieh will not need the services of a skilled mechanic to .keep in order.

I elevation.

The preferred embodiment of my invention is shown in the accompanying drawings, in-which:

Figure 1' shows the machine in side Fig. 2 is a perspective of the essential parts to show their relative positions; some parts, such as the shafts of the stemming rolls, being shown as separated, and all parts of theframing and the like being omitted. Fig. 3 is a perspective of the shutter or clearer for removing the tobacco from the colnb of the upper roll. Fig. 4 is a side elevation, showing the parts enlarged, of'the stemming rolls and associated parts, also showing the' wiper and chain carrier therefor, the rejector roll and bracket affordingan adjustable support for the same, and the conveyer belts for the stemmed and unstemmed and broken leaves. Fig. 5 is a plan view of the upper stemming roll and the shutter and lever carrying the same. Fig. 6 is a detail view on a larger scale, of an'end'of the roll shaft and bearing for the same, the parts being shown separated.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented July 14, 1914..

Serial No. 750,680.

Fig. 7 is a view of one end. of the upper roll shaft to provide for the separation of the rolls. Fig. 9 is a perspective view of a feed gate or guard. Fig..10 is an enlarged detail oft-he periphery of part of one of the Fig. 11 shows a modified form of wiper blade and Fig. 12 is a cross section showing the guideway for the grip- In its broad general features the machine belongs to the class of stemming machines in which two rolls covered with carding teeth are employed to brush'the lamina or blade of the leaf from the stem, which is gripped by a pair of gripper jaws mountedon chains and so disposed that they seize the butts of the leaves as they are fed in against the feed gate and carry the leaf between the rolls, the latter revolving with moderate speed in a direction opposite to the movement of the stem.

The machine comprises the side frames 1, which are spaced apart about thirty inches,

1 but may be placed nearer or farther apart.

Each side frame comprises the upper longitudinal bar 2 and the lower bar 2 3 which are connected at their ends by the front vertical bars 4 and the rear vertical bars 5, and the longitudinal bars are also connected midway of their length by the vertical braces 6. The front and rear vertical bars are extended at each end beyond the horizontal or side bars to provide feet or standards at their lower portions, and extension brackets 7 at their upper ends. At the junction of the lower bar and rear standard a bearing is provided for the shaft 8 of the drive'pulley 9 which receives power from the drive belt 10. This pulley is loose on shaft 8, but is arranged to be clutched thereto, the said clutch being thrown out by a spring and being operated by a hand lever'll, mounted at the front of the machine to one side of the feed table 12. The lever is held in position by a spring catch 13 arranged to be readilyreleased by the operator in case of accident or when desired, the connecting rod lextending from the lever to the clutch operating lever 15.. The shaft 8 has keyed thereon a pinion which'mesh'es with a gear on'shaft16, carrying the lower and rear sprockets 17. Said shaft 16 is journaled in bearings formed in the rear standards 5, and carries a gear which meshes with a like sized gear secured on shaft 18, carrying the upper rear sprockets 19," said shaft 18 being mounted in bearings provided at theupper ends of the rear extensions 7. At the front of the machine brackets 20 and 21 arebolted to the standard 4, and extension 7 and these brackets respectively provide adjustable bearings for the shaft 22 of the front lower sprockets23,

and for the shaft 24' of the front upper sprockets 25. The sprockets 17, 19, 23, and I 25 are mounted in pairs on their respective shafts 16, 18, 22, and 24, and'on the inner sides of the side frames, and the sprockets 17 and 23,19 and 25 on each side carry the lower and upper chains 26 and 27.

Lower gripper bars or jaw 28 are secured at proper intervals to the lower chains, each bar extending from one side chain to the other, and upper gripper bars or jaw 29v are in like manner secured to the upper chains,

' and the upper and lower sets of chains are so arranged that as they pass over the front sprockets, 23 and 25 the upper and lower gripper bars come together to seize the butts of'leaves presented to them onthe table 12. The inner face of the upper side bars 2 of the frame has spaced upper and lower bars secured thereto, see Fig. 12, to provide a guideway in which the chains travel from f the front to the rear of the machine, this I guideway serving to hold the two gripper secured the cardlng teeth or wires 34. The

leather backing has a facing strip of rubber or like material .35, secured thereto and the teeth pass through such rubber facing. By

the employment of such rubber facing agreater resilience is given -to the cardingteeth which permits them to'yield to prevent the tearing of the soft portions of the tobacco leaf and then restores the teeth to their original osit-ions. Each tooth is of wire approx mately about seven sixteenths of an inch in length, of which a little more=than foursixteenths projects beyond the rubber 'facings, and the ends of the teeth are bent at an angle of about sixty degrees to point in a reverse direction to the rotation of such roll.

The roll shafts 32 and 33 are provided at one of their ends with a transverse feather 37 which engages in a transverse slot 38 cut in the end of the corresponding stub shafts 39 and 50, on which are mountedthe gears by means of which the rolls are driven. A

split box comprising the'parts '40 and41, see

Fig. .6, secure-d together by the-screws 42 surrounds the meeting ends of the roll and stub shafts and holds them to rotate together, such boxes being mounted in the' bracket frames to provide bearings for the roll shafts. their shafts may be readily removed from the frame without any disturbance of the ad justment of the driving gears and parts.

Each stub shaft 39 and 39 of the lower roll has also mounted thereon a bearing disk 43 or 43', and theouter ends of said shafts are journaled in bearing blocks 44, carried in brackets 45, secured to the underside of the side bar 2. The stub shaft39 at the left of the machine, as looked at from the feed table 12, also carries a gear46 and a drive pulley 47, while the stub shaft 39 at the right hand has mounted thereon a sleeve 78 carrying at its inner end a clutch disk 79, adjacent the vided with a cam tooth 52, said disks being connected to sprockets 97 driven by. chains 98 from sprockets 73, 73', on cross-shaft 72. Said shafts 50 and 50 are journaled in bearings 53 mounted in brackets 54, secured to the upper side of the side bars 2. Each bracket 45- and 54 has an end .plate secured thereon through which a screw bolt 55 is threaded to bear upon springs 56 which in turn thrust the bearings .to the bottoms of the brackets and thereby hold the-rolls close tofeacli other so that the disk 51 of the upper stemming roll bears upon the disk 43 ofthe lower roll. At that time in the revolution of the upper roll at which the cam teeth 52 of the disks 51 come in contact with the lower disks 43, 43 the rolls are separated. to permit the passage between them of the gripper bars 28 and 29. Stub shaft 50 ofthc upper roll carries a gear 9(3, of the same diameter as gear 46 on said stub shaft 39 of'the lower roll, and these gears mesh respectively with larger gears 95 and 95, which mesh with each other, the object of this arrangement-being to transmit the rotation of the lower roll to the upper roll in all positions of the same. Gears 95 and 95 are loosely mounted on stub-shafts supported on side bar 2. As shown in Fig. 8, the cam tooth is preferably of hard steel and secured to the softer metal ofv the disk by a locking rib and screw 57, and the face of the tooth is shaped to give a sudden rise or spread to the rolls and to permit them to close more gradually andsoftly so that the wire teeth do not suddenly strike the blades of the leaves,

which have been carried through by the By such provision the rolls and gripper jaws, and injure them. Each bracket 45 and 54 is provided with anextension Lioaeii plate 58 providing for the attachment of the clearing combs 5,9 and 60, which overlie the front vertical faces of the stemming rolls and clear or comb the tobacco from the teeth.

In stemming some kinds of tobacco, having a rather thick leaf containing much gum and oil, it has been found necessary to provide a means for positively wiping or clear ing'the tobacco from the combs, and for the purpose of clearing the upper comb, a shutter 61 is carried on arms 62, .pivoted to standards 63 secured to the side bars 2. The shutter is held in its uppermost position by springs 64, extending from the arms 62 to the side bars 2, and is moved downwardly to clear the comb by cams 65, mounted on the cross shaft 72, supported in bearings on side bars 2.

The rolls are given a comparatively slow rotation in a direction contrary to the path of movement of the gripper bars by the following mechanism :-A vsmall pulley 66 is -mounted on shaft 16'at the rear of the mament immediately after the stem of the leaf has passed through the rolls by the follow ing mechanism :Cross shaft 72, which is some distance in the rear of thestemming rolls carries besides carrying the cams 65, a driving sprocket 7- and at its right hand end a' mutilated gear 75. Such shaft is driven by a. chain 76 from asprocket wheel carried by the upper rear sprocket shaft 18. i The mutilated gear 75 meshes with a pinion (0 which in turn meshes with the gear wheel 77 secured on the sleeve 78 mounted on the stub shaft 39 of the lower roll, and

the inner end of the sleeve carries disk 7 5), having a side tooth 80, see F 1g. 2. Said disk faces the bearing disk 43, secured to shaft 39 and, in the rotation of the disk 79, the tooth 80 strikes and drives a like tooth 81 on the bearing disk 43', As the gear 77 and disk 79 are arranged to be driven at a speed considerably greater than the speed of the pulley 47, the rotation of the rolls is greatly accelerated so that the increased centrifugal action aids greatly in clearing the tobacco from. the rolls, To permit such acceleration of the rolls the belt must of course slip either on pulley .47 or 69, or partly on both.

In practice, it has been found sufficient and preferable to arrange the driving mechanism so that the IOllS-Wlll be turned by the drive belt 70 and pulley 47 throughfan arc of approximately twenty degrees while the leaf is being drawn through the same, and -immediately thereafter the acceleration is given in which speed the rolls are turned through an arc of a little more than one hundred degrees, the rolls turning in both speeds through an are slightly exceeding one hundred and twenty degrees, so that the same portions of the roll do not engage the leaf at every rotation. Also in turning through an arc of approximately one hundred degrees all the teeth, contained in the twenty degrees of roll and which have been engaged in stripping the leaf, are made to pass through the teeth of the comb and are thus effectively cleared from the tobacco which then lies pressed against the front faces of the combs. Coincidently with the cessation of the accelerated movement of the rolls the cams 65 act on the ends of the arms 62 to throw the shutter 61 down on the face of the upper comb and thereby'wipe all the tobacco downwardly therefrom.

Sometimes, owing to some weakpess or defeet in the stem, the same breaks from the jaws 28 and 29 and, if no provision was made therefor it would not be carried through the rolls, and to provide for such contingency the machine is equipped with a set of auxiliary gripper jaws or bars 82, 83, respectively carried by the upper and lower pairs of auxiliary chains 84: and 85;. these chains pass over auxiliary rear sprockets 8G, 87, on the rear auxiliary sprocket shafts 88 and 89, which carry at their ends like sized gears 90 and 91, and at their front ends the chains pass over the auxiliary sprockets 92 and 93, mounted on stub shafts 94: carried in hearings on the side bars 2, These chains are driven as are the main gripper chains, through connections wit-h the drive shaft 10.

The front upper and lower auxiliary sprockets are placed just behind the stemauxiliary jaws is arranged to bring them to- "ether about a half of an avera e sizedto' r.

bacco lea't' lcng th behind the main gripper jaws, thereto-re such auxiliary aws close also on the stems gripped by the main jaws and aid to pull them through the rolls.

hiechanism to insure the positive removal of the stemmed leaves from the face of the lower comb and also to assist in the rejection of unstcmmed and broken leaves is provided as follows: A shaft 99 is mounted near the lower edge ofsthe sidediansj'near the W front of the machine, this shaft on the inner side of the side bars 2 carrying vsprockets 100 and 100, and on that end projecting beyond the side bar 2 on the left hand pf the machine carries a drive sprocket 101, which is driven by a chain 102 passed over a sprocket on the front lower sprocket shaft 22. Two sprockets 103 and 104 are also mounted on studs projecting from the innered onstuds projecting from'arms 106 and edge may be used instead of rubber.

106 adjustably'bolted to the side bars 2, and-"a sprocket chain 107 runs over each side set of sprockets. These chains carry a cross bar 108, which extends from one chain to thefother, being secured at its ends to links in said chain's. An L-shapedbar 109 is bolted by one flange to said cross bar So that its upright flange extends at a right angle to the chain and carries projecting beyond its edge a strip 1100f rubber or like material. If desired, a more or less flexible strip of metal 110 with serrated The sprocket chains are driven in a direction so that the wiper 110 approaches the rolls in a horizontal plane and as the cross bar 108 i passesover the sprockets 103, the upper edge ofthe wiper describes a curve which carrie s it into engagement with the mass of stemmed leaves resting between and on the freel ends of the combs so that as the chains descendto pass around the lower sprocket 104, the wiper wipes and clears all the stemmed leaves from the combs and causes sueh leaves to. fall upon a conveyer to be described. wThe chains are timed to bring the wiperfllo over the sprockets 108. immediately after the .shutter fil has'wiped down on the face of the upper comb so that the wiper 110 just clears the lower edge of the shutter and engages all the tobacco brought down thereby. Arms 111 are also secured to .the side bars 2 to project downwardly tll e f vfizom, each arm having a widened lower end in. which is cut a curved slot 112, and, bearings 113 for a shaft 114, are adjustably clamped as desired in such slot.

' Such shaft 114 carries between the arms a rejector roll 115 having a roughened periphery, and the shaft is driven to turn with its upper face away from the stemming rolls by a crossed belt 116 which passes over a 1 "pulley 117 secured to the sprocket 103, on

the right hand side bar, the center of the curve, of the slot 112 being substantially coincident withsuch sprockets 103 whereby an'adjustment of the shaft 114 in the slot is obtained "without any change in the drive ofthe belt-116. The adjustments of the shaft'1 14and-roller 115 in the slot'is determined by the length of the leaf of tobacco which is being stemmed, the roller 115 being positioned to .or from the stemming rolls so that the rear end or middle portion of any leaf falling from the main jaws and would rest on said roller and be drawn chine. Also after passing over the sprockets 104 the chains 107 pass upwardly over the sprockets 105 to bring the wiper 110 roller and thereby any leaves on said roller are positively engaged between the roller and wiper and are moved toward the front of the machine to fall on a second conveyer.

On the upper side of the lower side bars 4, and the vertical brace -6, standards are secured to carry the rollers of twoconveyer belts 118 and 119 which are driven b chains from a shaft 120, geared to the sha t 22 of the front lower sprockets. Side plates 121 and 122 form guards on the sides of the conveyers, and a division plate 123, which may depend from the arm ll separates thetwo conveyers. The conveyer "118 receives the stemmed leaves and delivers them to one side of the machine into any receptacle placed to'receive them, while the second conveyer 119 receives the broken and unlivers. the same preferably on the side of the machine opposite that on which the stemmed leaves are delivered. I Preferably a feed gate comprising .a gate 124 depending by spring hinges from a face plate 125 carried by arms 126 which are bolted to the side bars 2 is provided at the front of the machine.

leaves on the feed table 12, and placing any desired number side by side pushes the stem butts just beneath the lower edge of the spring feed gate. These leaves arethen seized by the gripper jaws 28 and 29 and are drawn under the gate 124 toward the stemming rolls; The gate 124 may have its lower edgeserrated to assist in combing orstraightening the leaves as they pass thereenter between the rolls the cams 52 on the bearing disks 51 cause a separation of the rolls'for the passage of the jaws and immediately thereafter permit the rolls to close gently on the leaves. To permit therolls to close upon the leaf close to the ja out injury to the carding wires from contact with the jaws, the latter are beveled ofi' on their rear edges as shown in Fig. 4. Thereupon the stemming of the'leaf begins,- and by the drawing action of the jaws, complemented by the gradual turning of the rolls whereby a constantly new set of cardleaf, the blade portions of the leaf are stripped from the stem, the rolls turning at a speed just sufiicient to .bear off the stripped thereby back toward the front of the ma In operation, the operator separates the failing to pass through said stemming rolls 'to'wlpe over the'upper face of the rejector 3, in the space between the front vertical bar 7 stemmed leaves thrown over by the rejector roll 115 assisted by the wiper 110 and deunder. As the gripper aws are about to ing .wires are brought tobear against the manner the leaves may be image'das plas-- tered upon the rolls until removed therefrom by the upper'and lower combs 59 and 60. It is to be particularly noted that the rolls at this time are given such gradual turning movement only sufficient for the above purpose, and that the movement is not so rapid, -as-in most wire brush stemming machines, to cause the wires with the added rigidity from centrifugal force to puncture andtear the'leaf. At the same time, the machine differs essentially from those machines in which the leaf is drawn through carding teeth held stationary, as the strippedportion-s of the leaf do not roll up around the stem and thus become impacted in the wires and finally present a mass of balled leaf through which the stem must be pulled, producing a strain greatly tending to the breakage of the stem.

After passing the rows the stripped stems are carried by the main gripper jaws to the rear of the machine and deposited on the separation of the'jaws.

The stripped leaves as before pointed out are removed from the combs by the combined action of the shutter and wiper and fall upon the conveyer belt 118, and are delivered to one side of the machine, while any broken and unstripped leaves not carried through the rollsfall either wholly upon the rejector roll or else rest upon such roll near their-tip ends and in this case such leaves are positively gripped between the reject-or roll and wiper 110 and are thrown over onto the conveyer 119 which delivers them at a point entirely removed from the stemmed leaves.

Having thus described my invention, 1

1. In a tobacco stemmer, a pair of stemming rolls arranged one above the other, a carrier having mean to engage the stems and carry them through the rolls, means acting immediately after the passage of the leaf through the rolls to clear the face of the upper roll, and a wiper arranged to move in a path to engage the tobacco removed from said upper roll and to clear the face of the lower roll.

2. In a tobacco stemmer, stemming rolls, a carrier to carry the leaves through the same, a rejector roll placed to receive,

through said rolls, means for giving the vrolls a relatively slow rotation during the passage of the stem, and means for thereafter greatly accelerating the movement of the rolls to clear the same by centrifugal action, a wiper arranged to wipe the tobacco from. the rolls and a rejector roll with which such wiper coacts.

4. In a tobacco stemming machine, a pair of stemming rolls, a conveyer arranged to receive the stemmed leaves and to deliver them outside the machlne, a second conveyer arranged to receive unstemmed and broken leaves, a rejector roll arranged above and on a line substantially between said conveyers, a wiper arranged to move in a path to throw the stemmed'leaves on said first conveyer and to wipe the upper face of said rejector roll to move unstemmed and broken leaves onto said second conveyer.

5. In a tobacco stemming machine, the combination with a pair of stemming rolls, of stem gripping aws'arranged to carry the leaf through said rolls, auxiliary stem gripping jaws arranged to move in a path to engage any stem broken or slipped from said first jaws after passing through said rolls, a shutter moving in a path to wipe tobacco from the upper roll, a rejector roll positioned to receive any broken or unstemmed leaves falling from the stem gripping jaws, and a wiper moving in a path to wipe the stemmed leaves from the roll and to wipe over the rejector roll.

6. In a tobacco stemmer, stemming rolls, a shutter moving in a path to clear the upper roll, and a wiper moving in a path to engage tobacco removed by said shutter and to clear the lower roll.

7 In a tobacco stemming machine, stemming rolls, means engaging the stem andcarrying the same through said rolls, means for clearing the face of the upper roll, rejector roll to support leaves which fail to pass through the stemming rolls, and a wiper moving in a path to engage and re move the stemmed leaves, and to throw out any broken and unstemmed leaves oif said rejector roll. 3

8. In a tobacco stemming machine, a pair of stemming rolls, stationary combs arranged to comb said rolls,- a shutter arranged to wipe the tobacco from the upper comb, and a wiper blade moving. in a path to engage thetobacco'moved by said shutter and to wipe the stemmed leaves from said rolls and comb. 4

9. In a tobacco leaf stemming machine,a pair of stemming rolls arranged one above the other and eachprovided with wire card teeth, means for engaging the leaves and carrying them through the rolls, means for giving each roll a slow turning movement during the'passage of the leaf and immedimovement of each roll, a comb arranged to engage the face of each roll, means for clearing the upper comb, and coacting means to engage thetobacco" wiped by'such means and acting towip'e the lower comb.

10. In a tobacco leaf stemming machine, a pair of stemming rolls each provided with reversely bent carding teeth, grip jaws to engage the leaves and carry them through the rolls, and means for elevating the upper roll to permit the passage of the jaws comprising bearing disks on the shafts of said rolls, one disk of each pair carrying a cam tooth formed to give a quick rise and a graduated fall to the said upper roll, said 15 jaws being beveled to permit the rolls to close to engage the leaf adjacent to the jaws.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature in presence of two Witnesses.

ILLIAM GEORGE WOODOOOK, JR.

Witnesses ARTHUR L..P ILL1PS. CECIL J. SHAW. 

